Section 508 Listening Session to be Held at Stanford University

June 1, 2011

The Chief Information Officers Council and the Chief Acquisitions Officers Council will be holding a listening session on the implementation of section 508 on June 17 from 1:30 to 5:00 (PT) at Stanford University in Stanford, CA. The purpose of this session is to provide thoughts and suggestions on the Federal government’s implementation efforts on Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. In July 2010, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum that, among other things, directed the U.S. Access Board, the General Services Administration’s Office of Governmentwide Policy, the Federal Chief Information Officers Council and the Chief Acquisitions Officers Council to engage with citizens, Federal employees, and other stakeholders in open forums to gather comments and ideas that might be used to improve the accessibility of government information.

The event at Stanford will also include time for a dialogue with representatives from technology companies. Agencies hosting the session hope to generate an interactive discussion on what challenges industry sees impacting the development of products and services that meet the government’s Section 508 requirements. The session will also include time for general comments from the public. Representatives from technology companies, persons with disabilities, advocacy organizations, and government employees are invited to participate. Further details, including suggested discussion topics, are included in a published notice, which is also available in PDF (note that the meeting location indicated in the notice has changed to 370 Serra Mall (from 450 Serra Mall)). For more information or to register for the session, visit www.ssa.gov/open/listening-session.html. Those who wish to address the listening session are encouraged to contact Emily Koo at (410) 965-4472 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Similar sessions were held in Chicago (September), Washington, D.C. (December), and San Diego (March).